By Ben Levisohn

Japan’s Shinzo Abe, whose Liberal Democratic Party is expected to tackle deflation head on, won that country’s weekend election—which should have been good news for Asian stocks. Instead, most markets have fallen. Bloomberg blames Apple (AAPL).

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma said the country is not falling apart, despite sluggish economic growth, worker protests and political infighting. The iShares MSCI South Africa Index (EZA) has returned 13.6% this year.

About Emerging Markets Daily

Emerging markets have been synonymous with growth, but the outlook for individual nations is constantly changing. Countries from Brazil and Russia to Turkey face challenges including infrastructure bottlenecks, credit issues and political shifts. Barrons.com’s Emerging Markets Daily blog analyzes news, data and research out of emerging markets beyond Asia to help readers navigate the investment landscape.

Barron’s veteran Dimitra DeFotis has been blogging about emerging market investing since traveling to India and Turkey. Based in New York, she previously wrote for Barron’s about U.S. equity investing, including cover stories and roundtables on energy themes. Dimitra was among the first digital journalists at the Chicago Tribune and started her career as a police reporter at the Daily Herald in the Chicago suburbs. Dimitra holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Columbia University, where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in the business and journalism schools. She studies multiple languages and photography.